Is this fine?

[Ezra_Gecko]

So more than a month in and the bird that wouldn't even eat is now flying around. They're still not keen on human contact, in fact, if I try to pet them in a stationary position they will try and bite while it chirps angrily, but I'm still happy. It's flying closer and closer, today it even landed on my leg and walked up.
My question is how do I teach it not to bite? They didn't quite seem to enjoy it the first time so I don't know what to do.

 

[ravvlet]

Will they eat out of your hand? If they aren’t willing to take treats or a food item from your hands yet, they won’t be likely to want pets.

I also “ask” before I pet - with our two it is different depending on the bird and it’s not something we consciously developed, just something that happened over time. For Kirby I make a scratching motion with my fingers and he will lower his head and fluff his neck feathers if he wants me to pet him. With Sammy we basically do a little “jazz fingers” wiggle and she will do the same thing.

If your bird sees your hand approaching and isn’t bowing and inviting pets, don’t try to pet them. By trying to bite they are telling you NO in the most emphatic way they know how. You have to respect that, or they will lose trust in you.

Landing on you is great progress but definitely doesn’t mean they’re hand friendly yet - I bird sit sometimes for a friend and her tiel flew onto my shoulder the first time I visited. Unthinkingly, I went to pet him - and he bit the snot out of me! It was my fault; I was a total stranger, and I just assumed because he was confident enough to sit on my shoulder he would be ok with it. Nope, haha.

 

[wrench13]

Very good point Ravvlet - ask permission first. My little amazon lets me know immediately if he is on the mood for a scratch. I ask by making a specific hand signal (like a scratch). If I attempt to do it without asking, 50/50 he either refuses by gently pushing my finger away OR giving me a nip. Salty does not suffer fools gladly.

Ezra, take it slow, move at the parrots rate of acceptance. A lot of parrots rate of acceptance of new things and people is GLACIAL compared to our quick monkey brains.

 

[texsize]

Cockatiels tend to be more curious than a lot of other parrots.
Landing on you to check you out is a good sign but some parrots never like pets/scratching from humans.

Baby my oldest cockatiel is over 20 years old and in all that time never accepted scratches.
Ony 2 of my three Tiels that were hatched in my home like/love scratches.
The boy that hatched here won't take scratches and puts on a good act of "I am going to rip your finger off" but never bites hard, it's only show.